The purpose of The Christian Working Woman is to equip and encourage Christians in the workplace to love Christ more, to live their daily lives by biblical principles, and to go to their jobs as ambassadors for Jesus Christ. For more information on our ministry go to: www.christianworkingwoman.org.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Some years ago, on a hot summer day in South Florida, a little boy
decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry
to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes,
socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he
swam toward the middle of the lake-- an alligator was swimming toward the
shore.

His father working in the yard saw the two as they got closer and
closer together. In utter fear, he ran toward the water, yelling to his son as
loudly as he could. Hearing his voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a
U-turn to swim to his father. It was too late. Just as he reached his father,
the alligator reached him. From the dock, the father grabbed his little boy by
the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs.

That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator
was much stronger than the father, but the father was much too passionate to
let go. A farmer happened to drive by, heard his screams, raced from his truck,
took aim and shot the alligator.

Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy
survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal.
And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his father's fingernails dug into
his flesh in his effort to hang on to the son he loved.

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma
asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then,
with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have
great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Dad wouldn't let go."

You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too.
No, not from an alligator, but the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars
are unsightly and have caused us deep pain or regret. But, some wounds, my
friend, are because God has refused to let go. In the midst of your struggle,
He's been there holding on to you. The Scripture teaches that God loves you.
You are a child of God. He wants to protect you and provide for you in every
way. But sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations, not knowing
what lies ahead. The swimming hole of life is filled with peril - and we forget
that the enemy is waiting to attack.

That's when the tug-of-war begins - and if you have the scars of
His love on your arms, be very, very grateful. He did not and will not ever let
you go.

You just never know where a person is in his/her life and what
they are going through. Never judge another persons scars, because you don't
know how they got them. Right now, someone needs to know that God loves them,
and you love them, too . Enough to not let them go.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Most people would tell you that
their ambition in life is to be happy.
How often I’ve heard a mother say something like, “All I want for my
children is to be happy.” No doubt I’ve
said it or thought it myself.

Happiness, for most people, would
be a life without major problems, a life with no significant worries, enough
money to do what you want to do, good relationships to fulfill your need for
love and community, etc., etc. Or, to
put it another way, happiness is life the way I want it to be.

Then along comes Jesus and turns
the whole happiness thing on its ears!
Imagine if you were listening to this itinerant preacher along the
Galilee, thinking he was going to bring you free food and healing and hopefully
freedom from Rome. And instead, he says,
“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will
find it” (Matt. 10:39). And then he says,
“A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke
12:15b).

This was revolutionary teaching,
and you can be sure that not everyone bought it. It went against their idea of happiness, and
it goes against most people’s ideas today. What is your definition of
happiness? It is revealed in the way you
live your life, the way you spend your time and money, the priorities you
establish, and the friends you pursue.

Happiness is a by-product of
losing your life for the sake of Jesus and the gospel. That means, putting others first, investing
major portions of your time and energy and resources into the lives of others,
giving up your “rights” and relinquishing control of your life’s plan to the
Lord.

For far too many years, I was
determined to find happiness my way, and it took me about ten years to figure
out that I had failed miserably. But
when I finally gave it all over to Jesus, he has proven to me again and again
that dying to self is the way to the abundant life he offers.

You’ll never find happiness until
you take self off the throne of your heart, and put Jesus there. It really is quite that simple.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Can you
think of some moments in your life when your mental and emotional condition was
so frail, so battered, so exhausted that you wondered if you were losing it?
Bad news often comes in bunches and we feel bombarded at times. I think of a woman who has recently received
bad news about her health, on top of bad news about one of her children, and
then she lost her job! At times like
these you truly can feel as though you’re losing your sanity.

It’s
undoubtedly what Job experienced when his world suddenly collapsed on him. And though he never cursed God, as you read
his story you see how there were times when his mental and emotional strength
was stretched beyond measure. At one
point he said, “I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but
you merely look at me” (Job 30:20).

If
that’s where you are today—feeling as though you could lose your mind because
life is so hard—I want to encourage you to remember that God has not and will
not let go of you. To keep your sanity,
keep your mind on Jesus. Isaiah 26:3
says, “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he
trusts in you.” Paul wrote that “the
mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and
peace” (Romans 8:6). When Satan is trying
to literally drive you crazy, stand firm on the promise of God that he will
keep you sane by his Spirit.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

A friend recently sent me an article entitled “The Cleavage
Gap,” written by Sue Edwards, an Assistant Professor of Christian Education at
Dallas Theological Seminary. She was
teaching a class on how to work with men in ministry, and these women were
bemoaning the provocative way women dress these days, while four of these very
women were, as Sue puts it, “showing enough cleavage to distract any man in our
midst.”

Let me include an excerpt from her article:

I don't expect immature
believers, and certainly non believers, to dress modestly. But these are
leaders, the ones who set the standard for others. I'm trying to get into the
heads of these leaders who don't get the cleavage gap. What are they thinking?
Maybe...

I've
worked hard and long on this body, and, by golly, I'm going to show it off.

My
husband might secretly be drawn to other women if they show theirs, so I better
show mine.

I want
to be loved and I'll never get a man's attention any other way.

It's hot
and I want to wear something cool.

It's not
my fault if men can't handle it. Women have been blamed too long for men's
lust. I'll flaunt it just to show them, a similar attitude to feminist's bra
burning back in the sixties.

I'm too
busy to be bothered by this issue. Men need to get over it.

I wonder if these women realize
how much their insensitivity hurts our chances of being taken seriously by men.
Seems to me when we show cleavage, we back up what men have said and thought
about women for centuries. We care more about the power of our sexuality than
we do about its effect on our brothers. We aren't thinking about the long term
impact of our choices, just about how cute we look today. Or maybe it's too
much trouble for busy women to assess the effect of the gap. That's
understandable for immature women who don't know better. But not for leaders
with far-reaching influence.

Sue goes on to say that whatever the reason that women who
truly love Jesus, who would never intentionally cause a man to lust, still
dress inappropriately, she has found no solutions. I share her frustration. In the past we talked about the issue of
dressing modestly at one of our luncheons, I’ve talked to various groups of
women about it, I’ve interviewed and videotaped some men in our church and
asked how it affects them, I’ve recommended Nancy Leigh DeMoss’s book,
“Modesty: Does God Really Care What I Wear?”
Since it seems to be a message that embarrasses people, or makes them
uncomfortable—or resentful or angry—I guess I’ve abandoned my efforts to do
more on making women in our church aware of the “cleavage gap” and how it
affects men—and what kind of testimony it presents to the world. After all, I tell myself, I’m not the fashion
police of The Moody Church!

It’s a topic that deserves our attention. If you have any suggestions on how we can
communicate the biblical message of dressing modestly to the women in our church
in a more effective way, I’m all ears.
Meanwhile, I pass these thoughts on to you for your contemplation.